A few months back I posted a blog entry about a VPN client for Vista 64-bit. My problem was that Cisco did not offer a VPN client and I needed one. I came across the NCP Secure Entry Client which I have been using since that time with great success. Actually that is one of the most visited blog posts. I must say that the company does an amazing job at supporting the tool, although I had minimal issues with it in the beginning anyway. I have to point out one instance where Someone posted a question on my blog regarding the tool, and it was not something that I could answer. So I contacted support and mentioned the question and they took time to answer the question on my blog. Now that is support!
Recently I decided to give the Windows 7 Beta a try and I have been pleased to say the least. As I was walking through my list of applications to install, I came across the NCP Client. Not thinking clearly, it was like 3 a.m., I attempted to install the Vista 64-bit version. Windows 7 made me try a few times, but it finally was installed, but I was unable to import my connection settings (.pcf file). I decided I would hold off on any panic until I visited the website to see if maybe there was a more recent version or a forum post answered my dilemma. To my surprise the NCP Secure Entry Client has a Windows 7 beta version as well. Now how many companies out there are offering a beta product for a beta operating system? That was a rhetorical question.
I held off on posting anything this time around until I had plenty of time to see if I encountered issues. Having gone through pain trying to get the Vista version installed I was concerned about the installation process. Well, it worked the first try without any hand holding which was nice. Then I figured I might encounter the problem importing my .pcf file again. Nope! It worked without a hitch. So I have been using the new version for around 3 weeks now and it has performed perfectly. So if you are looking for a VPN Client for Windows 7 64-bit, the NCP Secure Entry Client is again a very good option.
14 comments:
have you checked to see if it still works on builds 7068+? I am not sure if the server side of my VPN is down, or whether it has just stopped working. I also updated to the latest intel wifi drivers which include my wifi (which changes things, and I wonder if it has messed things up.
I am on the official build [7000], the 7068 build was a leaked version from what I understand. I like to keep my system on the up and up, so I didn't go after that build. Once the rumored Release Candidate comes out, I will be installing it.
yes of course it was a leaked build, but it is far more stable than 7000. well, let me know if you test it on that. 7077 is also coming down the pike in the next day or so, should be very close to RC.
I just want to add that I have used the NCP client with my Cisco 3000 concentrator, running Vista 64-bit for months without any problems. I recently migrated to the Windows 7 RC build 7100 64-bit and the NCP beta client works great! Their support is highly responsive and the product is well worth the expense (well, since Cisco feels they no longer need to keep their client product current, but that is another rant).
I can confirm that the problems I am having are due to the new and highly unusual wifi drivers (which include mywifi). I am going to contact NCP.
Interesting issue - we talked w/ NCP engineering's IT group and they're looking into it, however it sounds like something to do with the MyWifi which enables your machine to become a wireless access point, something obviously would conflict with the interests of the administrator who wishes to lock down and secure the platform. We'll post more here after NCP's development team has had time to play around with it.
Interesting. Yes, please keep us informed how that works out.
NCP told us that Intel introduced new wifi drivers—the past drivers were seen as ethernet drivers, but the new drivers are actually seen as wlan drivers. NCP is currently fixing the problem and will provide a new client for the Windows 7 beta soon. We’ll keep everyone posted with the update, and post once its released.
Thanks for the tip, John! I've been struggling with trying to get the original Cisco client to work in Windows XP mode. Like you, I didn't want to do all my work in the virtual machine.
I'm running Windows 7 x64 RC (build 7100) and the latest beta NCP client worked like a charm! Thanks again! :)
I had no problems getting the NCP client working on my Win 7 64 bit RTM copy but I did have a problem with the $145 price tag. I however found a free alternative that so far is working totally fine: I can access internal shares, my perforce server, mail, and other internal tool servers. It's from http://www.shrew.net : I'm using this binary in particular:
http://shrew.net/download/vpn/vpn-client-2.2.0-alpha-9.exe
Note that I tried the 2.1 RC-2 and it BSOD'd my machine. While yes, the above is an alpha and YMMV probably, it is at least working for me. Just thought I'd share in case others are in the same boat as me (we use IPSec over UDP and there's no 64 bit Cisco VPN client ATM that supports that).
Re: the question about NCP's Windows 7 client conflicting with the new Intel WLAN drivers: they tell us Version 9.12 Build 78 solved the problem. Just uninstall the older version reinstall this new build and you'll be all set.
Interesting comment about ShrewSoft. How is there enterprise support? Have you tried rolling out for more than 1 PC?
No, I've only run it myself and had a few other co-workers as well. Since it's alpha I'd hesitate to use it other than a temporary solution: we're upgrading our VPN hardware in a few months and so we'll be able to use the cisco 64 bit client at that point.
But for now, I need to be able to access perforce and internal tools from home so this gets the job done. As for their support I doubt it's enterprise level so that'd be a benefit of the NCP app. But this works for me as a stopgap measure, so I figured I'd pass on the info in case anyone else is in a similar boat.
Bummer you had to upgrade your hardware! Best of luck and hope it all goes well for you.
I didn't want to use VM so I tried NCP. It worked great but at $144 for license it was more than I wanted to pay. So I kept looking and found open source client - Shrew. They have 64-bit RC version for Windows 7. Install took less than a min and it imported cisco .pcf config file. I was on the network in couple min! Thanks for saving me $144, I'll donate 10% of that to the Shrew crew.
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